“It’s fantastic,” my husband said as he walked around The Linney, marveling. This self-catering cottage, with Cofton Holiday Park in Dawlish, looked good on the website, but we weren’t prepared for just how good it would be in person.
We had come to this area near Teignmouth to try out the cottage and write a review, and also to explore this part of the coast. The region is great for families, with lots of traditional seaside amusements (ice cream, piers, penny arcades, mini-golf) plus some of our favourite activities (walks, cool eateries, mini-golf). The area will soon appear on cinema screens in The Mercy, starring Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz, about the Donald Crowhurst’s disastrous attempt to win the 1968 Golden Globe yacht race. It’s the perfect excuse to visit.
Exploring The Linney self-catering cottage
Here in the Linney, my husband raced from room to room, exclaiming as he went. In the kitchen, he was effusive about the pots and pans; in the hallway, about the door that separated the bedrooms from the living area.
“The bed is not too soft and the pillow are thick!” he said, volunteering more feedback on one metre of bed furnishings than he frequently provides during an entire review stay.
He had launched one of the movies we’d brought on a memory stick onto the impressive screen in the sitting area (72 inches? 7,000 inches? I couldn’t have guessed but he, my 13-year-old daughter and her friend deemed it “really big”). All 3 marveled at the kitchen implements, which included a hand mixer, shining salt and pepper grinders and chef’s knives. “We have to make pizza tomorrow night,” my daughter said, holding aloft the pizza cutter.
About Cofton Holidays
Cofton Holiday Park is a complex of caravans and touring and camping sites, with affordable facilities including swimming pool and organised activities along with an onsite pub and eateries. The Linney is one of 3 Woodside Cottages. They are a few minutes drive away from the main Cofton Holidays site, up a road on the Eastdon Estate. (Standing in the sitting room, I watched 2 horses frolic in a field on our first morning.)
You can choose to take part in the holiday-park life around the corner — there is organised entertainment, bingo, a cabaret show, disco, karaoke and more. The pools sparkle invitingly.
Yet we found ourselves mainly wanting to spend time in our little bolthole. The Cofton Holidays folks have obviously thought about the things that make a self-catering property comfortable and workable with four people.
Things we loved
- The incredibly well-stocked kitchen
Finally! A self-catering cottage with proper sharp knives and all the pots, pans, cutting boards and implements to cook on a getaway. We had packed salt & pepper as well as a knife, wrapped in a tea towel. They never even made made it out of the bag! High points: Dualit toaster, an apple corer, even a mussel steamer and cake tin.
- The actual layout of the accommodation
The open plan kitchen/dining/living space feels communal without putting you on top of each other. There’s a door between this area and the bedrooms and bathroom, which further improves liveability – you can put the kids to bed and still hang out without waking them. It’s easy to imagine comfortably staying here for a week as a family or even 2 couples (although one of the bedrooms has twin beds).
- The bird feeders outside the patio doors
I loved sitting on the sofa in the morning before the rest of the family was up, watching the birds flitting outside the glass doors. A little touch that made the cottage more homey.
- The hot tub
Great for kids, great for grown-ups, and serviced by a nice man from Cofton Holidays. A group of cows walked up to say hello to the girls as they simmered after a day exploring Teignmouth. Unlike some places we’ve stayed, this one was turned on and steamy from the moment we arrived. And further in the vein of doing it right, Linney Cottage even provides dressing gowns and special stripey towels, making the experience that little bit more luxurious.
- Outside seating
An outside table sits next to the hot tub and a grill. We also admired the Etuary View cottage, where the table (and hot tub) afforded views over fields to the Exe Estuary.
- Proper heating
No chilly bedrooms or arctic shocks post-shower.
- Location
We were just down the road not only from the bigger attractions of Teignmouth and Shaldon but minutes away from Forest Fungi, a farm shop with a fantastic array of fresh mushrooms, olive oils, pork pies and sausage rolls, along with a café and outside tables. The Anchor Inn serves fare in a cosy olde worlde environment; the Ship Inn has a swirly carpet vibe but with a chalkboard menu that made our mouth water.
The thing we didn’t love
- The wifi
It can always be dicey in the country but even in the room with the router we found it hard to surf and stream content, even after restarting the system. We mainly tethered to my husband’s hotspot when we were at “home”.
A revelation for your next holiday with teens
The Linney also highlighted to us an important aspect of getaways with teens: hanging out. It’s good to organise fun activities but they also really enjoy staying somewhere “nice” where they can comfortably chill out, chat, eat and sleep late.
Impressive accommodation
Overall, the Linney was among the best self-catering properties we’ve ever visited. It was clean, stylish, workable and comfortable. Book a stay, throw in your swimsuit for the hot tub and bring along your recipes for self-catered family meals in a great setting.
The details
The Linney
Cofton Holidays
Cofton Lane
South Devon
Dawlish EX6 8RP
Stays at the Linney start at £760. Call Cofton Holidays on
01626 890111 for availability or visit https://www.coftonholidays.co.uk.
Discount bookings: Week breaks at The Linney can be booked from £511 (was £730: save £219), by quoting WIN30.
Three nights (Fri-Mon) can be booked from £426 (was £533: save £106) and four nights (Mon-Friday) from £385 (was £482: save £96) by quoting WIN20.
Offer available on breaks between 27 October and 22 December 2017.
Forest Fungi farm shop
Warren Rd
Dawlish Warren EX7 0NG
www.forestfungi.co.uk
01626 864111
Jenography was a guest of Cofton Holidays. All opinions are my own.
What things are important in a self-catering cottage? Which of the Linney’s special touches appeals most to you?
Oh it really does look rather fabulous. I like the fact it’s near enough to get involved with the holiday park but you don’t have to if you’d rather just chill. Perfect.
Nat.x
That’s really a bonus, especially if you have young children who will want to swim, take part in organised activities and so on. The pub at Cofton is quite convenient for snacks, drinks, meals etc but we enjoyed sussing out some local places nearby. The food was really amazing!
This looks like an amazing cottage. I like the view of that hottub 🙂
#CityTripping
The table and grill are just beside it so you could sit out with a snack, meal or glass of wine and still pleasantly supervise the kids in the hot tub.
Hmm, when you have teens the wifi is pretty important eh! But the rest of it sounds fab! I love this area and you are totally right when you say that teens like a nie place to just feel cosy and hang – I am learning quickly that holidays to them aren’t neccessarily about filling every minute like when they were kids and that something like a hot tub and a cosy living room can make all the difference. Thanks for sharing! #citytripping
Without a place to hang, getaways with teens can quickly become claustrophic and folks can get cranky. No problem of that here.
Sounds like a great getaway! I particularly love the hot tub! I’m sure the teenagers used that a lot during your stay! #citytripping
It was great that it was already hot when we arrived. We’ve stayed places where you have to turn it on upon your arrival and it can take ages to get warm
I’ve never done a self catering cottage holiday before, but this one looks gorgeous! #citytripping
Milly, they are great for the flexibility.